Celtics getting prepared for anything in NBA Draft

With the No. 6 pick on Thursday night, the Celtics will have options when their turn to select arrives around 8 p.m.

Jim Fenton The Enterprise @JFenton_ent

WALTHAM – They have studied every detail of the NBA Draft and tried to get a read on how it will all unfold on Thursday night.

Members of the Celtics’ front office will be as prepared as possible for every scenario when their turn to make the No. 6 pick arrives around 8 p.m.

There are, however, unexpected happenings that might pop up early in the draft, which was the case one year ago.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, in possession of the top choice, stunned everyone by drafting forward Anthony Bennett of UNLV, a player no one had going at No. 1, who then struggled as a rookie.

“Even though we all feel like we know what order it’s going to go in this time of year, no one had Anthony Bennett No. 1 last year,’’ admits Austin Ainge, the Celtics director of player personnel.

So the Celtics will have to guess what the five teams in front of them – the Cavaliers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Orlando Magic and the Utah Jazz – will be doing.

Up until late last week, the top three was a lock with Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas and Jabari Parker of Duke going in some order. Then Embiid underwent surgery on Friday to repair a broken right foot and now there are questions about whether he will move down.

The Celtics will play the waiting game to see how much the draft order gets jumbled because of that ailment.

Rumors fly around, but no one will be certain of anything until Thursday.

“No team is going to tell us the truth,’’ said Ainge, whose team also has the No. 17 pick from the Brooklyn Nets. “No agent is going to tell us the truth. So we try to use logic and deduce, but we really don’t know. We try to be prepared for any eventuality.’’

The way it looks now, Wiggins and Parker will be the first two players taken off the board, and it will be up to the 76ers whether they want to gamble on Embiid, a center who also has had back issues.

Guard Dante Exum of Australia figures to go in the top five, so the Celtics may be looking at options at No. 6 that include Noah Vonleh of Indiana, Julius Randle of Kentucky, Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State and Aaron Gordon of Arizona, if they are available.

With president of basketball operations Danny Ainge in charge, the front-office staff is spending this week breaking down all the potential candidates.

“We have our own lists,’’ said Austin Ainge. “We have multiple opinions on staff. We do statistical draft models. Maybe one group’s opinion will sway another group.

“I’d say we do lists kind of informally all the time throughout the year. We’ll be sitting there and say, ‘All right, let’s put them in order.’

‘‘I think it’s easiest for us to do it by position. This week, as we get closer to the draft, we start doing sometimes the fifth-best point guard is better than the second-best shooting guard. It’s easier by position for us.

“Everyone submits a ranking and we total up the numbers and we do a million different things. In the end, it’s Danny’s final call.’’

Before the decision is made, members of Danny Ainge’s staff will state their cases for the player they are backing.

“Basically, we argue about which players we like constantly like you do with buddies at home,’’ said Austin Ainge. “That’s what we do every day. That’s a constant battle.

“At the same time, we try to make it so whoever is the best arguer doesn’t win. We try to have some substance to it and keep emotion out of it.

“There’s different studies done that when you argue for a person, you start to like them more, and when you argue against them, you start to dislike them.

“We try to remove that. We try to balance it out a little bit.’’

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.